Well we were woken up rather abruptly this morning by what sounded like bullfrogs the size of large dogs outside of our tents! Come to find out they are actually the calls of the Calibus monkey!!! It was pretty ridiculous! At least it didn’t go on for very long!!
Amiri made his rounds delivering hot water for washing and that also served as our wake up. Once I was packed up I headed into the dining tent for breakfast. Every morning at breakfast and every night at dinner Tom checks our pulse rate and our Oxygen levels. That’s one of the benefits to having an American Guide, all guides are concerned with the health of their porters and clients but they don’t all check your pulse and everything twice a day. Tom does. It’s a comfort knowing that our health is a priority! The Porters work directly with our local guides and we found out that if a porter dies on the mountain the guide gets slapped with a huge fine and also jail time. These guys work so hard and carry so much stuff it’s crazy. Jonny takes good care of his guys, which is also a huge comfort!!!
Today was a long 6 hr hike with a lot of steep ups! No matter how slow you walk, uphills will still leave you out of breath! Today we hiked out of the forest, through the heather, and we are now in the moorlands of the Shira Plateau… It was pretty cool seeing the different changes in the terrain. Right before camp we came to a huge cairn field. In the states cairns usually point you the right direction but over here they are meant to wish the travelers good luck and a safe journey! It’s pretty cool to see.
We ended the day at Shira 1 camp. Roughly 11,499ft of elevation. It’s pretty awesome to be able to look up and see Kili… Right now it’s still a little daunting to look up and see just how far we have to go… But we still have a few days and I’m hoping it’s gets a little less daunting!
Once we were all set up we settled into last card! We also had some visitors… Jon and Katy, another couple on their honeymoon. We first met these guys at the Londorossi gate. They are from New York as well… They both hung out for a little while and played cards. It’s always fun to meet new people!
After cards it was dinner and bed! Tomorrow is another long day!

We have finally begun our trek up the mountain! We started off this morning doing some final weighing of bags, porters are only allowed to carry 15 kilos or 35 lbs of our gear, and then loaded up the bus. We were on a bus with everyone that is going to be a part of getting us up the mountain. In total it consists of 5 of us hikers (Brad, Suzanne, Mike, Kristin, and Me),1 American guide (Tom), 2 local guides (Jonny and Robert), and 18 porters!! It’s a crazy amount of people!!!
After everyone was loaded we started the roughly 5 hr trip to the trailhead. Before getting to the trail head we had to make a stop at the Londorossi Gate. Here we ate lunch while the porters offloaded all the gear and got everything weighed. This would be the first of many weigh stations. Porters have to get everything weighed at every camp we stay at. This ensures that they aren’t carrying to much and also that the amount of garbage we produce also gets weighed so they know it’s not getting left on the mountain!
After the weigh in it was off to the trail head. There’s nothing like taking a huge bus up a rutted out dirt road! At one point we were leaning so much to the right that we all thought the bus was going over… A little scary but we made it! We also got to see some Calibus monkeys playing in the trees… They move to much so I wasn’t able to get any pictures but they are black and white with big bushy white tails!
The hike today was only a couple of hours and not that bad. It is slow going up… Pole pole (po ley, po ley) would become the biggest mantra on the mountain… Meaning Slowly! Twenda sasa (let’s go now) would also become a regular saying!!! We are camped at Big Tree camp and a little over 9,000 ft. In elevation.
Once we got into camp we met Amiri who is going to be our waiter for the remainder of the trip. He is the one porter that we will have the most interaction with since he brings us hot water once we are in camp and will also bring us our food in the mess tent. I also met Julius, I’m guessing he is my porter since he pointed out my tent to me once we were in camp. After we got settled we had popcorn and kahawa (coffee) and the addiction to a card game called last card would begin!! After many rounds of cards and dinner it was bed time!! Tomorrow brings what we are told is one of the harder days!

We are all finally here!!! Brad and Susanne got in last night. After having breakfast we headed out on a walking tour of Moshi with our Zara guide Juma. A cool thing that the hotel here offers is free tours if the city with a local guide. It was awesome. We were able to walk through a neighborhood and see where Juma lives. Very eye opening. We also went to a leather/ wood carving shop, took a tour too see how everything there was made, and bought souvenirs. We then made our way to the local market, and I’m talking the heart of the local market, way more then I had seen the other day with Tom and Will. It’s all very fascinating! There are so many types of fruit on display and little dried fish and right about everything! And have I mentioned the avocados here? There are so huge and the ones that I have eaten are so delicious! I will miss those when I get home! After the market it was off to lunch and then back to the hotel for a little nap before the Kilimanjaro briefing. The briefing just went over our schedule and what we should expect and we met our local Guides Jonny and Robert. Our last dinner here in Moshi, final packing, and bed followed. Tomorrow we start our 8 days on the Lemosho route of Kilimanjaro… I’m so stupid excited!!!

Well my party is getting bigger… Kristin and Mike showed up this morning. They are a little exhausted after spending a 12 hr layover in Cairo! But they made it… Susanne and Brad get in tonight… A little typo sent Tom to the airport last night to pick up Brad but he wasn’t there…
I ventured into Moshi today with Tom. We went to the Tanzanian Walmart, no it’s not really Walmart just a store that has everything, picked up some last minute stuff and then headed to Union Coffee house for lunch. I had a bacon and avocado sandwich, the avocado here are so incredibly good!!! We sat with Matt and Gigi, a father/ daughter that are here for a safari and then a couple days at the beach in Zanzibar. Super great people.
After lunch we headed back. I started to do some packing and then headed over to talk to Mike and Kristin.
I walked over to the orphanage to try and catch the kids as they headed out to play some soccer but I was a little to late and missed them. I’m hoping that I’ll get to play with them before I head back to the states.
After that it was dinner, packing, and bed…. Tomorrow we take a walk about into Moshi and have our trip briefing… The time has almost come to walk up a really big mountain!
The pictures are all just outside of out hotel, more of the countryside then the town…

Well today was rather uneventful. The jet lag has finally caught up to me… I woke up just fine, had some breakfast, talked with a few people and then headed back to my room to promptly take a nap! After a few hours I wandered out to the Garden Bar, sat down with Tom, ordered some lunch, and read a little of my book. After lunch Tom and I went over my gear to make sure that I had everything… I feel like I have so much stuff!! Compared to hiking the AT I am carrying a lot of clothing! Way less gear, but a lot of cloths… I guess it gets real cold at 19,000 ft 🙂 After gear check I promptly took another nap until dinner time. Then after dinner I came back to my room, read a little and then it was lights out!!! Hopefully I can stay awake tomorrow!!!

Today was a really great day. I went to bed at half time of the game and was able to sleep the whole night!! Woke up this morning and headed to breakfast. The food here is pretty basic and pretty plain but over all not to bad. I ended up sitting with a woman by the name of Lady Bug. I had actually talked to her on Facebook prior to coming over here as she is doing the same hike! I didn’t think I would meet her as she said that she started on the 4th… So that was a nice surprise. She has also hiked the AT and the PCT! I also met 2 of the other women who she is climbing with. A great bunch of women! They leave tomorrow morning so I should see them around before they head out!
After breakfast Tom (my guide), Will (the other groups guide), and I headed in to Moshi. We walked around the local market, ate lunch at a local coffee shop… We had a bacon and avocado pizza… The avocados over here are amazing!!! After our roaming we took a tuk tuk back to the hotel and then headed over the the Kilimanjaro Orphanage Center…
What a truly heartbreaking yet inspiring place! There are 59 children that reside at the orphanage ranging from 2.5-18 yrs old. We helped fold cloths and then just hung out and talked, played with, read to, and even helped with some math. While we were there another group came by to say hello and so the children sang us songs, introduced themselves and even put on a little play. Just to see how little this kids have and yet how vibrant their personalities are is amazing. They are all curious and happy and care for one another. It’s amazing just to spend even a few hours with them. I still have a few days left before I hike so there is a good chance I will head back over there to spend some more time.
After getting back to the hotel I sat down to dinner with a full table of people that had just got back down from the mountain. A family from North Carolina. Three generations of men hiking together grandpa, father, and son. Super nice people and great dinner conversations! Dinner here runs late so after that and a little more conversation with Paige, another hiker from Florida, I headed to bed…. Tomorrow night Brad shows up, the adventure is slowing starting to get underway!!

I have arrived in Africa!!! I flew in from Amsterdam, Got through customs and met Tom, my guide from Mountain Guides International who will be taking us up Kilimanjaro.
After what seemed like forever on some very bumpy potholed filled roads we arrived at Springlands Hotel where I will be staying until our climb. It’s actually a pretty nice place.
I slept far to much on the plane here so I’m a little worried that I won’t be able to sleep tonight. But for now I’m going to go watch the Germany/France World Cup game.